Industry scope & market sizes
The industry is defined by high creative output but low formal revenue, reflecting an emerging sector with additional headroom for monetisation. Africa’s film and audiovisual industries employ about 5 million people. West Africa is a key production hub. Nollywood produces 2,500 films annually, and data from the National Bureau of Statistics pegs the motion pictures & music production GDP at ₦2.7 trillion ($1.8 billion) in 2024, equivalent to 0.75% of national output. South Africa, the anchor of Southern Africa, produces fewer titles but contributes $750 million annually, including $220 million from foreign shoots that leverage its studio infrastructure.
Across the continent, growth has been broadly positive: production volumes increased in 31 of 54 countries over the past five years. Ghana produces 600 films per year, second in Africa after Nigeria. Despite this scale, Africa’s distribution infrastructure remains thin, with one screen per 790,000 people, the lowest ratio globally. Historically, this
